Advocacy - Introduction

Advocacy is about influencing people and policies in order to bring about change. It can be aimed at a range of different audiences - the general public, NGOs, politicians, governments, whether local or national, or other decision-makers, including within the international community.

In this section, we provide some guidance on:

Alliance-building – this is important not only as a way of securing advocacy goals, but also for protection. Having a support network of organisations and institutions already established is a vital means of ensuring that they can react quickly in times of emergency (see also 'Emergency support')

International mechanisms – these are international bodies that can receive complaints from individuals and groups about human rights violations and can take action, both on an emergency basis, as well as through longer-term processes.

Campaigning and advocacy tools - this section contains links to guides on how to plan a campaign, more effective advocacy, as well as to guides on using information technology and social media in campaigning.